Raccoons, foxes, rabbits and other small animals now have a safe place to cross the road near Oak Island.
Embedded under the highway approaching a new bridge to the southeastern North Carolina island are five pipes about 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide to let animals cross under the highway instead of dodging cars.
"It's also a safety issue to keep the animals off the roadway," Mason Herndon, a division environmental officer for the N.C. Department of Transportation, said.
The entire stretch of the new road leading to the bridge is surrounded by lush wetlands that are home to a variety of animals from birds to snakes to bear and deer.
The tunnels are likely too small for the bigger animals to get through.
Fences along woods near the road will steer animals toward the tunnels, while grates placed above the pipes will let light into the passageways, authorities said.
The tunnels have been finished, even though work on the bridge itself is stopped until the cause of a girder collapse in December is determined.
More animal crossings are planned, DOT officials said.
Four will be placed on a nearby road, though the developer who owns property near the bridge will be required to build the tunnels.
And the planned Wilmington bypass from U.S. 421 to U.S. 17 in Brunswick County will have three animal passages, Herndon said.
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